%0 Journal Article
%T Comparison of photographic and visual assessment of occlusal caries with histology as the reference standard
%A Uriana Boye
%A Tanya Walsh
%A Iain A Pretty
%A Martin Tickle
%J BMC Oral Health
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1472-6831-12-10
%X 50 extracted permanent teeth were assessed for the presence of occlusal caries by 9 examiners using two methods; traditional visual examination developed by BASCD and photographs produced by an intra-oral camera. For both methods, diagnoses were made at ¡°caries into dentine¡± level. The teeth were histologically sectioned and the diagnostic decisions using visual and photographic assessment were compared to the histological reference standard. Inter- and intra- examiner reliability for the methods was assessed and weighted kappa values were calculated.The visual examination method had a median sensitivity value of 65.6% and a median specificity value of 82.4%. The photographic assessments method had a median sensitivity of 81.3% and a median specificity of 82.4%.The photographic assessments method had a higher sensitivity for caries detection than the visual examination. The two methods had comparable specificities and good intra- and inter- examiner reliability.
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6831/12/10/abstract